The present invention relates to a video camera, as well as to an image pickup system comprising a video camera, a commander and a headset.
Business-use image pickup systems used by broadcasting stations and like institutions are large-scale systems. Illustratively, a related art image pickup system is large enough to include a video camera fixed to a tripod or shouldered by a camera operator, a microphone for use typically in interviews, a monitor device for monitoring captured images, and an editing device for editing picture recordings.
One disadvantage of such related art image pickup systems is that they require involvement of numerous personnel for operating the video camera for image pickup, monitoring and editing image recordings, and holding interviews with personalities. Another disadvantage is that the large scale of related art image pickup systems deprives them of maneuverability.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to overcome the above and other deficiencies and disadvantages of the prior art and to provide a small-scale image pickup system that is easy to maneuver and to operate allowing even a single person to use the video camera and microphone for news coverage and other activities, the system further offering useful functions for use in subsequent editing.
In carrying out the invention and according to one aspect thereof, there is provided an image pickup system comprising a commander, a video camera and a display device. The commander includes: a microphone for obtaining an audio signal; a command information storage for storing a plurality of kinds of command information; a command information generator for generating a plurality of kinds of command information which correspond to a plurality of different operations performed by a user, the generation of the command information being carried out on the basis of the plurality of kinds of command information which are stored in t he command information storage; and a transmitter for transmitting the audio signal and the command information as transmitted information. The video camera includes: an image pickup device for obtaining an image pickup signal by imaging an object; a receiver for receiving the transmitted information; a recording and reproducing device for recording and reproducing the image pickup signal to and from a recording medium; an image information storage for storing a plurality of kinds of image information; a display-ready video signal generator for generating a display-ready video signal based on the image pickup signal reproduced from the recording medium by the recording and reproducing device as well as on the image information; a transmitter for transmitting the display-ready video signal; a controller for controlling the image pickup device, the recording and reproducing device and the display-ready video signal generator in accordance with any one of a plurality of operation modes; and an operation mode setting switch for setting one of the plurality of operation modes. The display device includes: a receiver for receiving the display-ready video signal transmitted from the transmitter of the video camera; and a display device for displaying an image represented by the received display-ready video signal.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an image pickup apparatus comprising: an image pickup device for obtaining an image pickup signal by imaging an object; a receiver for receiving a signal which is supplied from an external device and which includes command information; a recording and reproducing device for recording and reproducing the image pickup signal to and from a recording medium; an image information storage for storing a plurality of kinds of image information; a display-ready video signal generator for generating a display-ready video signal based on the image pickup signal reproduced from the recording medium by the recording and reproducing device as well as on the image information; a transmitter for transmitting the display-ready video signal; a controller for controlling the image pickup device, the recording and reproducing device and the display-ready video signal generator in accordance with any one of a plurality of operation modes; and an operation mode setting switch for setting one of the plurality of operation modes.
According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a controller using a graphic user interface, comprising: a pointer displaying device for displaying a pointer on a screen; a movement command receiver for receiving a movement command for moving the pointer, the movement command including first and second movement designating information, the first movement designating information designating a movement in a first direction, the second movement designating information designating a movement in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction; an operation area displaying device for displaying a first and a second operation area, the first operation area being positioned close to one edge of the screen, the second operation area being located elsewhere on the screen and arranged to transfer control between a first and a second state regarding the first operation area; an enter command receiver for receiving an enter command; an enter controller for providing controls corresponding to the position in which the pointer is displayed when the enter command is received by the enter command receiver; and a pointer movement controller for moving the pointer in the first state on the basis of the first and the second movement designating information, the pointer movement controller further moving the pointer in the second state on the basis of either the first or the second movement designating information.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent upon a reading of the following description and appended drawings.